Harry Benjamin's Gender Identity Scale was a first attempt to classify and understand various forms and subtypes of gender variant behaviors and expressions, made by Dr. Harry Benjamin. It was a 6-point scale, similar to the Kinsey scale of sexual orientation, which had 7 categories. Much like Kinsey's understanding in the field of sexual orientation, Dr. Benjamin understood that the nature of gender identity and gender expressions is not a discrete scale, but a spectrum, a continuum with many variations, much more than those featured in the scale. But the scale he developed seemed to be an easy, rational and clinically useful way to diagnose different forms of transsexualism and to distinguish between those who needed surgical and/or hormonal treatment and those who didn't.

Benjamin noted: "It must be emphasized again that the remaining six types are not and never can be sharply separated." [1]

Group

Type

Name

1

I

Pseudo TV

1

II

Fetishistic TV

1

III

True TV

2

IV

TS, Nonsurgical

3

V

TS, Moderate intensity

3

VI

TS, High intensity

Benjamin added a caveat: "It has been the intention here to point out the possibility of several conceptions and classifications of the transvestitic and the transsexual phenomenon. Future studies and observations may decide which one is likely to come closest to the truth and in this way a possible understanding of the etiology may be gained." [1]

Dr. Benjamin's Scale references and uses Dr. Alfred Kinsey's sexual orientation scale to distinguish between "true transsexualism" and "transvestism". But it should be noted that the strict relationship between gender identity (Benjamin's Scale) and sexual orientation (Kinsey's Scale) was just a result of the researcher's biases, not his scientific findings.

At the time when Dr. Benjamin practised, no transsexual could qualify as eligible for transition if he/she wasn't completely homosexual (relative to his/her birth sex), thus, heterosexual after transition. It was just because at the time it was believed that obviously a real, normalfemale should be completely heterosexual, and a lesbian female was perceived as somewhat deviant, wrong or abnormal. So it seemed to doctors (including Benjamin himself) to be absurd to help transition a MtF who was attracted to women. As transsexuals discovered this bias, they started to lie in order to get hormones and surgery. Today most gender clinics presume sexual orientation and gender identity are distinct.

The scale was referring only to MtF transsexuals (transwomen), and male transvestites, since Dr. Benjamin had relatively little experience with FtM transsexuals (transmen).

More modern views on gender identity issues differ from original Harry Benjamin's view not only in that they exclude sexual orientation as a criteria for diagnosing and distinguishing between transsexuality, transvestism and other forms of gender variant behavior or expression. Modern views also exclude fetishistic transvestism from this spectrum, as it is a distinct phenomenon, not related to gender identity but related to sexual arousal and fetishism.